


Bro Love

by GiggleSnortBangDead



Category: Buddy Thunderstruck (Cartoon)
Genre: First Dates, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 19:37:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19302433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GiggleSnortBangDead/pseuds/GiggleSnortBangDead
Summary: Buddy and Darnell finally go on a date. Darnell is nervous.





	Bro Love

**Author's Note:**

> obvi my return to fanfiction will be with a netflix original cartoon about a truck racing dog and his best friend and mechanic

Darnell stared at the Concho Bolo chalkboard, like he hadn’t been there a thousand times before. He had to wonder, though, which was more attractive to eat on a date: chicken fingers or hot wings. Maybe he should try something new, like one of Muncie’s burgers or even something you were supposed to eat with a fork and knife. Would Buddy like it if he ate a salad? 

Buddy came back from the counter with two pops. “I ordered us the hot wings,” he said, setting the bottle in front of Darnell and sitting beside him. So that settled that. Darnell couldn’t help his little exhale of relief, but Buddy didn’t notice, draping himself over the back of his chair, legs spreading, right knee pressing against Darnell’s thigh, left foot becoming the #1 tripping hazard for passersby. They slipped into a silence while Darnell hyper-focused on their point of contact, which sort of burned for some reason. 

“_____.”

Darnell’s gaze flickered up from where he’d been practically glaring at Buddy’s knee. He blinked at his date. Blood was rushing to his ears. He hadn’t heard what Buddy said. Buddy was staring back at him, tooth snaggled and eyebrow cocked. 

“Huh?” Darnell finally asked.

“I just wondered if you wanted chicken fingers instead. I realize I did not ask before I placed our order.” 

“No,” Darnell nearly yelled. He cleared his throat and chugged down some pop. “I mean, nah, man. I wanted hot wings.” 

Buddy smiled, further sprawling. His paw brushed the back of Darnell’s chair. A finger brushed the shoulder of Darnell’s jumpsuit. 

Darnell laughed, sort of. “This sure is weird.” 

Buddy’s ears perked. He sat up. “Is this weird?” He pulled his hand back. Darnell near slapped himself on the face. 

“Don’t you feel sorta…” Darnell tried to find another way to say it but couldn’t. “Weird?” 

“I did not feel weird until you just asked.” Buddy put his paws around the pop bottle. “It had not occurred to me yet that this is weird.” 

“Fart nugget,” Darnell cursed. “I’m sorry, Buddy. I’m ruining the whole thing.” 

“Goll darn it, I knew I should have asked before I ordered.” Buddy slapped a hand against the table. 

“No, that’s not it. It’s – ” Muncie stepped in just then, slapping two hot wing baskets in front of them.

“On the house,” she said, “on account of you two finally making the jump. I’d had $20 dollars on you making it official, so it’s the least I can do.” She left like she came, ignoring their _weirdness_.

“If it’s on the house, we should order dessert, don’t you think, Darnell?” Buddy was grinning, but the look slipped the second he met Darnell’s eye. “Or, I can call Muncie back, and we can get this all to go.” 

Darnell nodded, although he wasn’t sure a different location would make him feel all that better. 

He went and sat in the truck while Buddy got their dinner bagged up.“Get it together, Darnell,” he said to himself. “Don’t mess this up.” The pep talk was ineffective, making him feel even worse than he had before. 

Buddy hopped in through the window, tossing the doggie bag in the back. “Somewhere you wanna go?”

Trying to seem cool, Darnell shrugged. Buddy started the Rouser, and Darnell turned on the AC to get some extra air. “Wherever you want, Buddy.”

Buddy side-eyed him but pulled out of the lot. Driving away, he said, “I’ve been thinking about our worm vs. beetle conversation. There are a significant amount of variations of beetles and worms to consider,” and he started to talk at length about how this particular type of worm compared with another, while this genus of beetle might be significantly cooler and better than those two worms, but the beetles of another genus were decidedly worse. Darnell couldn’t quite keep the strands of Buddy’s analysis, starting to get more and more nervous. 

They stopped at a turnoff by the woods, a quiet spot with no traffic. Darnell knew that if they got out of the truck, sat on the hood, and reclined back, they could watch the sun set and all the different stars come out just above the trees. 

“Darnell,” Buddy said, voice serious. “I don’t like this.” 

Darnell’s heart broke a little. He practically heard the cracking. “I knew this was a bad idea,” he couldn’t help but say. He was so stupid. He felt his face getting all sad and stupefied. “This is all my fault.” 

“No, Darnell!” Buddy wrung his paws on the steering wheel. “This is all on me. I thought we could just do our regular awesome thing when I should have been taking you on a romantic date! Now you’re all sad and silent, because I’m goofing this up.”

“I’m goofing this up!” Darnell cut in. “I wouldn’t know how to act on a date anyway! I want this to be normal and awesome and fun, but all I can think is what if we goof this up even more bad and can’t be bros anymore?” 

“We are always gonna be bros.”

Darnell stared at him. He believed that Buddy believed that. “What if this is a terrible idea? What if we realize we should have left this one in the Maybe Pile, or just thrown it out altogether?” 

“Darnell,” Buddy was looking right at him. It made Darnell wanna squirm a little. “Are we best friends forever?” 

“Of course we are.” 

“And would you like to hold hands and kiss?” 

“We already do!” 

“And other stuff sometime?” 

The blood rushing to Darnell’s face made him lightheaded for a second. “Well, yeah,” he managed out. 

“It’s just me and you.” Buddy was close to him. Darnell had no idea when he’d gotten so close. Buddy took Darnell’s paws in his own, looking at him with a gravity that he usually reserved for learning a new racing move or beating a difficult boss in a game. 

“And the Rouser,” Darnell added weakly. 

“Of course, the Rouser too.” Buddy smiled. “The things we do never have to be official, if it would make you feel better. But I would like them to be.” Buddy pulled his hand back, grabbing the hot wings from the backseat. Darnell exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. “You shouldn’t make a decision on an empty stomach, though,” Buddy said. 

Darnell had already made up his mind, but he didn’t say anything. They ate on the hood of the Rouser, watching the sky turn from blue to orange to purple. When the stars were out and Buddy was explaining the constellations (“That’s the first time we jumped Sludge Puddle Creek from the north,” “That’s the time we ate 10 large pizzas in 30 minutes and definitely did not throw up in the Concho Bolo’s bathroom.”), Darnell was just about thinking this might all be okay. 

“We shoulda taken Muncie up on a free dessert,” Darnell sighed. 

“I think you mean we shoulda taken Muncie up on free _desserts_.”

Darnell watched as Buddy jumped off the hood and scavenged through the plastic bag Darnell had wrongly assumed was hot wing-carrying only. 

“We got triple berry pie or key lime. What do you want?” 

He didn’t have to think for more than a second. “I think we should put them on top of each other.” 

Buddy’s eyes squinted at the pure genius of it. “I love your mind, bro.” He stunted back up, and they put one on top of the other, but not before Darnell got a kiss for his ingenuity.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come chill with me on [tumblr!](http://gigglesnortbangdead.tumblr.com)


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